Want Peace in the Middle East? Stop Piling Blood Libels on Israel

In the unending blizzard of anti-Israeli hypocrisy that characterizes proceedings in the United Nations, the latest blood libelous farce of the United Nations Human Rights Council has been under-recognized and largely ignored. To reduce the ignominy of having elected Muamar Qadaffi's Libya chair of the UN Human Rights Commission ten years ago, the United Nations created the Human Rights Council, in which all 193 member-states are frog-marched through a human rights hearing called the Universal Periodic Review. The friends of the Queen-for-a-day state appear, mewing and nodding, and commend them on their performance; unctuous exhortations to make a good record even better are uttered. Thus when Syria appeared, in October 2011, Cuba, North Korea, Iran, (genocidal) Sudan, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Zambia, Algeria, Lebanon, China, Zimbabwe, and pre-reform Myanmar, flocked forth to praise the (quoting Hillary Clinton) "reformer" Bashir Assad and his benign government, already immersed in a bloodbath of its own making. Four days later, in accord with the script of these imbecilic mockeries, Mexico reported on behalf of a tri-power recording secretariat, that 179 recommendations had been made to Syria, and "I have the pleasure of telling you that 98 have been accepted and 26 will be considered." Among those that did not make the cut with the Syrian co-operators were tentative suggestions that it would be in order to "bring attacks on peaceful protesters to an immediate end...to end secret and indefinite-term detention of suspects...and allow journalists freedom of expression." Mexico, on behalf of a grateful world, thanked Syria for its co-operation. The final session on Syria, in March 2012, confirmed the previous resolutions and the bonhomous reception of Syria's compliance, though by that time the number of people who had died in the Syrian national melee had quadrupled to about 11,000. Since this fine send-off from its UPR, the total number of dead in the debacle of human rights-compliant Syria has more than quintupled, to about 60,000.

If they were not such whitewashes, they would be reminiscent of the 1960s "self-criticism" sessions on American campuses, when the professorial sympathizers with the unruly students who shut down and even burned down campuses, submitted and admitted their failings, like the victims of the Chinese Cultural Revolution in their dunce-caps. Syria, and similar lawless states, made no confession and was congratulated for going through this unspeakable charade, whose chief function is the harassment and defamation of countries that do pay attention to human rights, Israel in particular. Beseeched by the United States to undergo this burlesque, Israel was scheduled to appear on January 29 of this year. Israel commendably declined to appear and dignify this outrage. Forty per cent of all United Nations resolutions are condemnations of Israel. There is a standard pro forma resolution demanding the "return" to the "Zionist entity" (created by the United Nations itself -- not just recognized by it -- as a Jewish state in 1948), of five million alleged displaced Palestinians. The number is unverifiable, and once in hand it would undoubtedly swell to seven or ten million, whatever was necessary to assure the expulsion or subjugation of the Jews in what the United Nations, with the unanimous concurrence of the permanent Security Council members created as a homeland of the Jews, just three years after the liberation of the death camps in which half the world's Jewish population, six million souls (and an equal number of non-Jews) had been liquidated.

The human rights activities of the United Nations are designed and intended to support and uphold the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, largely written by Eleanor Roosevelt, in which activity, as the (Australian) session chairman said at the time, she achieved the remarkable feat of "adding lustre to the great name that is hers by right of birth and of marriage." (She was Theodore Roosevelt's niece and god-daughter as well as Franklin D. Roosevelt's wife.) The Universal Declaration, inter alia, requires equal respect for all nations, great and small. There will be no peace in the Middle East until the region accepts the fact of the founding of Israel as a Jewish state, as the United Nations explicitly created it. And there will be no movement from the game of piling blood libels on Israel and the Jews by the majority of the world's failed countries until the world's successful countries cease to be pawns in this shameful and hypocritical ostracization, and they end the effort, begun by the British in the Balfour Declaration in 1917, of selling the same real estate to two different parties. There was never any solution except to divide the twice-promised territory in two. The Great Powers, through the United Nations, created the Jewish State; Israel has been the success story of the region. For the United Nations and its leading members to have any moral credibility, this contemptible farce must end; Israel must be affirmed, and the Palestinians must have a viable state of their own and the right to return to it. The West must learn from the Canadians and the Czechs and retrieve its courage. And the Iranians, North Koreans, Zimbabwe, and other outlaw states must be denied their over-used ability to distract the world with this red herring of racist malice.

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During the last hour of hostilities, militants launch rockets from Gaza City as an Israeli bomb explodes on the horizon on November 21, 2012 on Israel's border with the Gaza Strip. An official ceasfire started at 9pm local time between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement after a week of conflict resulting in the deaths of 150 Palestinians and five Israelis and many hundreds injured (Christopher Furlong, Getty Images)

Palestinian firefighters celebrate the beginning of the truce with Israel in Gaza City on November 21, 2012. Palestinians in Gaza took to the streets to celebrate the start of a truce deal with Israel that was announced in Egypt on the eighth day of violence in and around Gaza. (Marco Longari, AFP / Getty Images)

An Israeli soldier gives the victory sign as mechanised infantry check their equipment in a forward staging area on Nov. 21, 2012 on Israel's border with the Gaza Strip. Despite widespread rumours of a ceasefire militants in the Gaza Strip continue to fire rockets and Israel continues it's bombardment. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has arrived in Israel to support and encourage a peace deal being brokered by Egypt. (Christopher Furlong, Getty Images)

Hamas Leader Khaled Meshaal gives a press conference at the Intercontinental Hotel on Nov. 21, 2012 in Cairo, hours after Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr announced that a truce had been agreed between Israel and Hamas to end a week of bloodshed in and around Gaza. (Gianluigi Guercia, AFP / Getty Images)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a statement to the press at his Jerusalem office on November 21, 2012. Israel and Hamas agreed on a truce that will take effect this evening in a bid to end a week of bloodshed in and around Gaza that has killed more than 150 people, Egypt and the United States said. (Gali Tibbon, AFP / Getty Images)

Israeli infantry soldiers patrol next to the border on Nov. 21, 2012 on Israel's border with the Gaza Strip. Despite widespread rumours of a ceasefire militants in the Gaza Strip continue to fire rockets and Israel continues it's bombardment. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has arrived in Israel to support and encourage a peace deal being brokered by Egypt. (Christopher Furlong, Getty Images)

In this image made from Egyptian State Television, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, left, and Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr, right, give a joint news conference announcing a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2012. (Egyptian State Television / AP)

A smoke grenade is thrown by Israeli security forces during a protest against the Israeli military operations in Gaza Strip near the West Bank town of Nablus, on Nov. 21, 2012. (Nasser Ishtayeh, AP)

A Palestinian man drives past a produce market in Gaza City, Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2012. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has arrived in Cairo in her diplomatic push to forge a truce between Israel and Gaza rulers of Hamas. Her visit comes hours after a bomb exploded on an Israeli bus in Tel Aviv, wounding several. Clinton is looking to piece together a deal to end Israel's weeklong offensive in the Gaza Strip. (Bernat Armangue, AP)

Israeli soldiers pray next to an artillery gun on Nov. 21, 2012 on Israel's border with the Gaza Strip. Despite widespread rumours of a ceasefire militants in the Gaza Strip continue to fire rockets and Israel continues it's bombardment. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has arrived in Israel to support and encourage a peace deal being brokered by Egypt. (Uriel Sinai, Getty Images)

Israeli soldiers take cover during a rocket attack from the Gaza Strip on Nov. 21, 2012 near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip. Despite widespread rumours of a ceasefire militants in the Gaza Strip continue to fire rockets and Israel continues it's bombardment. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has arrived in Israel to support and encourage a peace deal being brokered by Egypt. (Uriel Sinai, Getty Images)

Palestinian protesters are chased by Isareli border guards during clashes in the West Bank city of Nablus on November 21, 2012, as they protest against the ongoing Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip. A new wave of Israeli raids on Gaza killed 11 people, including a child who died when the tower housing AFP's office was struck for the second time in 24 hours. (Jaafar Ashitiyeh, AFP / Getty Images)

A Palestinian youth holds stones during clashes with Israeli forces near an Israeli army watch tower at the main entrance of the West Bank city of Bethlehem, as they protest against the ongoing Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip on Nov. 21, 2012. Israeli air strikes shook the Gaza Strip and Palestinian rockets struck across the border as Clinton held talks in Jerusalem in the early hours of Wednesday, seeking a truce that can hold back Israel's ground troops. (Musa Al-Shaer, AFP / Getty Images)

Palestinian stone throwers run for cover during clashes with Israeli security forces in the West Bank city of Nablus, on November 20, 2012. The West Bank has witnessed almost daily demonstrations in support of Gaza Palestinians who have faced a week of Israeli air strikes against militants firing rockets at the Jewish state.

Sapir Hachmon and her boyfriend Ron Vachnish react as they enter her room after it was hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip on Nov. 20, 2012 in Beersheba, Israel. Hamas militants and Israel are continuing talks aimed at a ceasefire as the death toll in Gaza reaches over 100 with three Israelis also having been killed by rockets fired by Palestinian militants. (Photo by Uriel Sinai, Getty Images)

An Israeli soldier evacuates a young girl from a site hit by a rocket launched by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip in the southern Israeli city of Beer Sheva on November 20, 2012. Israeli leaders discussed an Egyptian plan for a truce with Gaza's ruling Hamas, reports said, before a mission by the UN chief to Jerusalem and as the toll from Israeli raids on Gaza rose over 100. (Danny Sasson, AFP / Getty Images)

Palestinians wait for aid at a UN supplies center after it was damaged in an Israeli airstrike directed at the nearby Hamas police headquarters at the Jabalya refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip on Nov. 20, 2012. Israel halted a threatened Gaza ground offensive to give Egyptian-led truce talks a chance as top diplomats flew in to boost efforts to end nearly a week of cross-border violence. (Mohammed Abed, AFP / Getty Images)

The white spirals of a patrolling Israeli drone are seen from the seafront in Gaza City on Nov. 20, 2012. UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged all sides to the Gaza conflict to immediately cease their fire, warning at a news conference in Cairo that an escalation will endanger the whole region. (Marco Longari, AFP / Getty Images)

A bomb disposal officer at a house after it was hit by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip on Nov. 20, 2012 in Beersheba, Israel. Hamas militants and Israel are continuing talks aimed at a ceasefire as the death toll in Gaza reaches over 100 with three Israelis also having been killed by rockets fired by Palestinian militants. (Photo by Uriel Sinai, Getty Images)

Israeli soldiers check their guns at an Israeli army deployment area near the Israel-Gaza Strip border on Nov. 20, 2012, as talks aimed at securing a deal between the Jewish state and Gaza's Islamist Hamas rulers continue. Israel halted a threatened Gaza ground offensive to give Egyptian-led truce talks a chance, as top diplomats flew in to boost efforts to end nearly a week of cross-border violence. (Menahem Kahana, AFP / Getty Images)

Israeli civilians and security forces take cover as air raid sirens sound around Jerusalem on November 20, 2012. A rocket struck just south of Jerusalem as UN chief Ban Ki-moon was to arrive for talks on ending the Gaza crisis, AFP correspondents said. (Ahmad Gharabli, AFP / Getty Images)

During a lull in militant rocket fire young boys play on the roof of a bomb shelter and blow soap bubbles on November 20, 2012 in Ashkelon, Israel. Hamas militants and Israel are continuing talks aimed at a ceasefire as the death toll in Gaza reaches over 100 with three Israelis also having been killed by rockets fired by Palestinian militants. (Photo by Christopher Furlong, Getty Images)

A Palestinian man holds up a leaflet dropped by Israeli air force in the Tufah neighbourhood of Gaza City on November 20, 2012, urging residents of certain districts of the city to evacuate their homes "immediately" amid fears the military was poised to launch a ground operation. (Marco Longari, AFP / Getty Images)

Israeli security forces surround the place where a rocket fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip landed in an olive grove in West Bank near Jerusalem on Nov. 20, 2012. The rocket from Gaza struck an olive grove in West Bank near Jerusalem, shortly before UN chief Ban Ki-moon arrived for talks on ending the Gaza crisis. The attack was claimed by the armed wing of Gaza's ruling Hamas movement, in the second such attempt to target Jerusalem in four days. (Hazem Bader, AFP / Getty Images)

Israeli soldiers read from a holy book as they pray in a staging area near the Israel Gaza Border, southern Israel, on Nov. 20, 2012. Israeli aircraft on Tuesday battered the headquarters of the bank Gaza’s Hamas leaders set up to sidestep international sanctions on their rule, as fitful efforts to negotiate an end to a week-old convulsion of violence moved to the highest reaches of diplomacy. (Ariel Schalit, AP)

Palestinian children stand in the rubble left after an Israeli strike on a house in Gaza City, on Nov. 20, 2012. Efforts to end a week-old convulsion of Israeli-Palestinian violence drew in the world’s top diplomats on Tuesday, with President Barack Obama dispatching his secretary of state to the region on an emergency mission and the U.N. chief appealing from Cairo for an immediate cease-fire. (Hatem Moussa, AP)

An Israeli woman reacts at her house hit by a rocket fired by militants from Gaza Strip, in the southern city of Beersheba, Israel, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2012. Efforts to end a week-old convulsion of Israeli-Palestinian violence drew in the world's top diplomats on Tuesday, with President Barack Obama dispatching his secretary of state to the region on an emergency mission and the U.N. chief appealing from Cairo for an immediate cease-fire. (Tsafrir Abayov, AP)

A Palestinian boy walks outside the National Islamic Bank, destroyed overnight in an Israeli strike, in Gaza City, on Nov. 20, 2012. Early Tuesday, Israeli aircraft targeted another Hamas symbol of power, battering the headquarters of the bank senior Hamas officials set up to sidestep international sanctions on the militant group's rule. After Hamas violently overran Gaza in June 2007, foreign lenders stopped doing business with the militant-led Gaza government, afraid of running afoul of international terror financing laws. (Hatem Moussa, AP)

Palestinians carry injured people out of a media center in Gaza City that was hit by an Israeli strike for the second time in two days Monday, Nov. 19, 2012. Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad says the strike on the building killed one of its top militant leaders. (Bernat Armangue, AP)

Israeli soldiers prepare weapons in a deployment area on November 19, 2012 on Israel's border with the Gaza Strip. The death toll has risen to at least 85 killed in the air strikes, according to hospital officials, on day six since the launch of operation 'Pillar of Defence. (Lior Mizrahi, Getty Images)

Israeli artillery shells attack a target in the Gaza Strip on November 19, 2012 on Israel's border with the Gaza Strip. According to reports November 19, 2012, at least 90 Palestinians have been killed and more than 700 wounded during the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip. (Christopher Furlong, Getty Images)

An Israeli officer holds a Torah scroll as he reads from a holy book while others gather in a staging area near the Israel Gaza Strip Border, southern Israel, Monday, Nov. 19, 2012. The Palestinian civilian death toll mounts as Israel ferociously pursues Gaza Strip militants who are menacing nearly half of Israel's population with rocket fire. (Ariel Schalit, AP)

Reuters news agency photographer Ammar Awad (R) receives treatment for an injury inflicted by a rock, during the coverage of the clashes between Palestinian protestors and Israeli security at the Qalandia checkpoint, in the occupied West Bank on November 19, 2012. UN chief Ban Ki-moon will meet Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas as part of a growing push for a Gaza war ceasefire, his spokesman said. (Ahmad Gharabli, AFP / Getty Images)

Palestinian youth hurl stones towards Israeli soldiers at the Qalandia checkpoint, in the Israeli occupied West Bank, on November 19, 2012. European Union foreign ministers called for an "immediate" halt to hostilities between Gaza and Israel as a new strike in a sixth day of violence pushed the toll in Gaza to over 100. (Ahmed Gharabli, AFP / Getty Images)

An Israeli soldier aims his rifle towards strone throwers demonstrating against the Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip at the Qalandia checkpoint, in the Israeli occupied West Bank,on November 19, 2012. Israeli air strikes killed 22 Palestinians, hiking the Gaza death toll to 99 as global efforts to broker a truce to end the worst violence in four years gathered pace. AFP PHOTO/AHMAD GHARABLI (Photo credit should read AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/Getty Images)

Israeli border policemen stand guard during a protest against Israel's military action on the Gaza Strip in Birzeit, Monday, Nov. 19, 2012. Israeli aircraft struck crowded areas in the Gaza Strip and killed a senior militant with a missile strike on a media center Monday, driving up the Palestinian death toll to 96, as Israel broadened its targets in the 6-day-old offensive meant to quell Hamas rocket fire on Israel. (Nasser Shiyoukhi, AP)

Fireworks are thrown at Israeli security forces during clashes against Israel's military operation in the Gaza Strip, in Qalandia checkpoint, near the West Bank city of Ramallah, Monday, Nov 19, 2012. Israeli aircraft struck crowded areas in the Gaza Strip and killed a senior militant with a missile strike on a media center Monday, driving up the Palestinian death toll to 96, as Israel broadened its targets in the 6-day-old offensive meant to quell Hamas rocket fire on Israel. (Majdi Mohammed, AP)

Israeli soldiers lie on the ground as an Iron Dome missile is launched near the city of Ashdod, Israel, Monday Nov 19. 2012. Israeli aircraft struck crowded areas in the Gaza Strip and killed a senior militant with a missile strike on a media center Monday, driving up the Palestinian death toll to 96, as Israel broadened its targets in the 6-day-old offensive meant to quell Hamas rocket fire on Israel. (Moti Milrod, AP)

Birzeit University students cover their faces during clashes with Israeli soldiers at the Atara checkpoint close to the university as they protest against Israel's military action on the Gaza Strip, on November 19, 2012. Israeli air strikes across the Gaza Strip killed 13 people, raising the Palestinian death toll to 90 as Israel's relentless air campaign entered its sixth day. (Abbas Momani, AFP / Getty Images)

Israelis take cover in a large concrete pipe used as a bomb shelter during a rocket attack from the Gaza Strip on Nov.19, 2012 in Nitzan, Israel. According to reports Nov. 19, 2012, at least 90 Palestinians have been killed and more than 700 wounded during the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip. (Photo by Uriel Sinai, Getty Images)

Palestinians look on as smoke billows following an Israeli air strike on the Gaza City tower housing Palestinian and international media, on November 19, 2012. Israeli air strikes killed 21 Palestinians hiking the Gaza death toll to 98 as global efforts to broker a truce to end the worst violence in four years gathered pace. (Mohammed Abed, AFP / Getty Images)

Israelis take cover in a stairway during a rocket attack from the Gaza Strip on November 19, 2012 in Ashkelon, Israel. According to reports November 19, 2012, at least 90 Palestinians have been killed and more than 700 wounded during the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip. (Photo by Uriel Sinai, Getty Images)

Palestinians run as tear gas is fired by Israeli security during a protest against Israel's military action on the Gaza Strip, on November 19, 2012. Israeli air strikes killed 22 Palestinians, hiking the Gaza death toll to 99 as global efforts to broker a truce to end the worst violence in four years gathered pace. (Jaafar Ashtiyeh, AFP / Getty Images)

A Palestinian woman mourns after an Israeli air strike destroyed her house in the town of Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on November 19, 2012. Israeli air strikes killed 13 Palestinians on November 19, hiking the Gaza death toll to 91 as global efforts to broker a truce to end the worst violence in four years gathered pace. (Mohammed Abed, AFP / Getty Images)

Israeli border guards take position during clashes with Palestinian protestors in the centre of the divided West Bank city of Hebron, near the Israeli Beit Hadassa settlement, on November 19, 2012. Israeli air strikes killed 21 people in Gaza on Monday, raising the overall death toll to 98 on the sixth day of the relentless bombing campaign. (Hazem Bader, AFP / Getty Images)

Israeli soldiers sleep next to their tanks in a deployment area on Nov.19, 2012 on Israel's border with the Gaza Strip. The death toll has risen to at least 85 killed in the air strikes, according to hospital officials, on day six since the launch of operation 'Pillar of Defence.' (Photo by Uriel Sinai, Getty Images)

Supporters of Pakistan's outlawed Islamic hardline group Jamaat ud Dawa (JD) stand on Israeli and US flags as they shout anti-Israel slogans during a protest in Karachi on Nov.19, 2012. Israeli air strikes killed 13 Palestinians on Nov. 19, hiking the Gaza death toll to 91 as global efforts to broker a truce to end the worst violence in four years gathered pace. (Asif Hassan, AFP / Getty Images)

Israeli soldiers gather next to their armoured personnel carriers (APC) stationed on Israel's border with the Gaza Strip, on November 17, 2012, in Israel. (Photo by Lior Mizrahi/Getty Images)

Israeli children wave their national flag as they greet soldiers stood by a car, on a road leading to the Israel-Gaza border near the southern Israeli town of Ofakim on November 17, 2012 in Israel. (Photo by Lior Mizrahi/Getty Images)

A rocket is launched from Gaza as seen from near Sderot on November 17, 2012 in Israel. At least 39 Palestinians and three Isreali's have died since conflict began four days ago. (Photo by Lior Mizrahi/Getty Images)

A smoke plumes rises over Gaza following an Israel Air Force bombing, as seen from near Sderot on November 17, 2012 in Israel. (Photo by Lior Mizrahi/Getty Images)

A doll lies in a damaged house after a rocket fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip landed in the southern Israeli city of Ashdod on November 17, 2012. (DAVID BUIMOVITCH/AFP/Getty Images)

Israeli soldiers take position on Israel's border with the Gaza Strip on November 17, 2012. (MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty Images)

Israelis stand in a shelter as a siren wails across the southern Israeli city of Ashdod to warn of incoming rockets fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip on November 17, 2012. (DAVID BUIMOVITCH/AFP/Getty Images)

A picture shows damages caused by a rocket fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip in the southern Israeli city of Ashdod on November 17, 2012. (DAVID BUIMOVITCH/AFP/Getty Images)

Israeli soldiers gather next to their armoured bulldozers stationed on Israel's border with the Gaza Strip on November 17, 2012. (MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty Images)

Israeli soldiers gather next to their armoured personnel carriers (APC) stationed on Israel's border with the Gaza Strip on November 17, 2012. (MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty Images)

Israeli children wave their national flag as they greet a bus carrying soldiers on a road leading to the Israel-Gaza border, near the southern Israeli town of Ofakim on November 17, 2012. (MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty Images)

A picture taken from the southern Israeli border with the Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing following an Israeli air strike inside the Palestinian territory on November 17, 2012. (JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty Images)

A picture taken from the southern Israeli border with the Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing following an Israeli air strike inside the Palestinian territory on November 17, 2012. (JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty Images)

A picture taken from the southern Israeli border with the Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing following Israeli air strikes inside the Palestinian territory on November 17, 2012. (MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty Images)

An Israeli soldier kisses his girlfriend as Israeli reserve soldiers sit on a bus heading to south of the country after they were called for duty on November 16, 2012 in Tel Aviv, Israel. (Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)

A woman holds a banner as she attends a pro-Palestinian demonstration in front of the Italian Parliament to protest against Israel's ongoing airstrike over Gaza on November 16, 2012. (FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images)

The son of a pro-Palestinian demonstrator sits on his father's shoulders as people gather infront of the Italian Parliament to protest against Israel's ongoing airstrike attacks over Gaza on November 16, 2012. (FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images)

Israeli reserve soldiers sit on board a bus heading to south of the country after they were called for duty on November 16, 2012 in Tel Aviv, Israel. (Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)

A Palestinian woman shouts anti-Israel slogans on the rubble from her home after the latest Israeli airstrikes in the town of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip November 16, 2012. (SAID KHATIB/AFP/Getty Images)

A picture taken from the southern Israeli Gaza border shows smoke billowing from a spot targeted by an Israeli air strike inside the Gaza strip on November 16, 2012. (JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty Images)

A picture taken from the southern Israeli Gaza border shows a rockets being launched from the Gaza strip into Israel on November 16, 2012. (JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty Images)

A picture taken from the southern Israeli Gaza border shows smoke billowing from a spot targeted by an Israeli air strike inside the Gaza strip on November 16, 2012. (JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty Images)

A picture taken from the southern Israeli Gaza border shows smoke billowing from spots targeted by Israeli air strike inside the Gaza strip on November 16, 2012. (JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty Images)

An Israeli photographer takes pictures of the damage caused by a rocket fired by Palestinian militants in a house in the southern Israeli Kibbutz of Kfar Aza on November 16, 2012. (JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty Images)

Relatives grieve during the funeral for Itzik Amsalem, 49, one of the three people who died in a rocket attack on November 16, 2012 in Kiryat Malachi, Israel. (Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)

An Israeli soldier talks on his mobile phone as he sits on top of an armoured personnel carrier (APC) stationed on Israel's border with the Gaza Strip on November 16, 2012. (MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty Images)

Palestinian youth take cover behind a makeshift barrier during clashes with Israeli soldiers at the Qalandia checkpoint, in the occupied West Bank, on November 16, 2012 during a protest against the war on Gaza. (ABBAS MOMANI/AFP/Getty Images)

An Israeli soldier sits next to armoured personnel carriers (APC) stationed on Israel's border with the Gaza Strip on November 16, 2012. (MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty Images)

Israeli soldiers greet each other as they take position on Israel's border with the Gaza Strip on November 16, 2012. (MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty Images)

Israeli soldiers run near Israel's separation barrier during clashes with Palestinian stone throwers in the Jalama checkpoint in the West Bank near Jenin city, on November 16, 2012. (SAIF DAHLAH/AFP/Getty Images)

ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN BORDER, ISRAEL - NOVEMBER 16: (ISRAEL OUT) Israeli soldiers patrolling next to the Israeli-Palestinian border as some 16,000 reserve troops are drafted in, on November 16, 2012 in Israel. Conflict between the Israeli military and Palestine militants has intensified over the last few days, with Israel striking some 130 targets overnight. According to reports, 18 Palestians and three Israelis have been killed. Egypt's prime minister Hisham Qandil is due to make a brief visit to Gaza today and Israel have vowed to suspend fire for the duration of his visit, provided there's no cross border attacks from militants. (Photo by Ilia Yefimovich/Getty Images)

Tunisian protesters shout slogans during a demonstration called by the ruling Islamist party Ennahda in Tunis on November 16, 2012 to denounce Israel's ongoing military operation in the Gaza Strip. (FETHI BELAID/AFP/Getty Images)

An Israeli soldier aims at Palestinian youth during a protest against the war on Gaza, at the Qalandia checkpoint, in the occupied West Bank, on November 16, 2012. (ABBAS MOMANI/AFP/Getty Images)

Tunisian protesters shout slogans while waving a Palestinian flag during a demonstration called by the ruling Islamist party Ennahda in Tunis on November 16, 2012 to denounce Israel's ongoing military operation in the Gaza Strip. (FETHI BELAID/AFP/Getty Images)

Palestinian protesters throw stones at Israeli soldiers during a protest in Aida refugee camp near the West Bank city of Bethlehem on November 16, 2012 against Israel's military operation in the Gaza Strip. (MUSA AL SHAER/AFP/Getty Images)

NITZAN, ISRAEL - NOVEMBER 19: (ISRAEL OUT) An Israeli girl holds her sister as they take cover in a large concrete pipe used as a bomb shelter during a rocket attack from the Gaza Strip on November 19, 2012 in Nitzan, Israel. According to reports November 19, 2012, at least 90 Palestinians have been killed and more than 700 wounded during the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip. (Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)